Report layouts

Path: Development > Programming in the AL language > Developing reports > Report layouts · tier official · system reporting · narrative reviewed (checked by Opus)

Overview

Report layouts control the content and format of reports and documents. Business Central supports Word, Excel, RDLC and external layouts, and composite layouts that combine reusable themes with headers and footers. The overview page and “Get started creating report layouts” explain the layout types and the basic steps: choose a type, copy or export an existing layout, modify it, import it, validate it and manage its status.

Type-specific pages cover the design work. For Word, they describe creating the report, using the Business Central add-in, mapping fields with the XML Mapping pane, hyperlinks and authoring tips. For Excel, they cover the data contract, system worksheets and PivotTables. For RDL and RDLC, they cover SQL Server Report Builder and Visual Studio. Developer pages cover defining multiple layouts in the AL rendering section, adding barcodes, and building a custom report render with the OnCustomDocumentMergerEx event.

For administration, one page covers setting the layout a report uses, per company or temporarily from the request page. Another covers assigning document layouts to customers and vendors. Pages marked (Obsolete) describe the older custom layout process. Start with the overview, then go to the page for your layout type.

Key points

• Layout types: Word, Excel, RDLC, external and composite layouts. Composite layouts combine reusable themes and headers.
• Define several layouts for one report in AL with the rendering section, using Caption, Summary and DefaultRenderingLayout properties.
• Word layouts use a custom XML part, the XML Mapping pane, the ReportMetadata and ReportRequest system dataitems, and the WordMergeDataItem property.
• Excel layouts use a data contract, ExcelLayoutMultipleDataSheets, system worksheets, translations, named formulas and drillthrough. They can include PivotTables and PivotCharts.
• RDLC and RDL layouts are designed in SQL Server Report Builder or the Visual Studio RDLC Report Designer extension.
• Barcodes use the Barcode Font Provider interface and Barcode Symbology enum with IDAutomation fonts. The online font list covers 1D barcodes, MICR, OCR and security fonts.
• Users set a default layout per company, pick one temporarily on the request page, or manage layouts on the Report Layouts and Report Layout Selection pages.
• Word hyperlinks on text and picture fields use column names ending in _Url and _UrlText.

Learn pages

• (Obsolete) Create and modify custom report layouts: Learn how to create customized layouts to personalize the appearance of a report when viewed, printed, or saved.
• (Obsolete) Import and Export Custom Report Layouts: You can import and export an existing custom report layout as a file to and from a location on your computer and network.
• (Obsolete) Set the Layout Used by a Report: You can use different layouts for a report, and switch between layouts to change how a report looks.
• (Obsolete) Update Custom Report Layouts: Learn how to update a custom report layout used on a report when there are design changes to the report’s data set, for example.
• Adding barcodes to reports: Learn how you can add barcodes to a report.
• Assign document layouts to customers or vendors: Use document layouts to control the appearance and format of documents such as invoices and orders that you send to customers and vendors.
• Available fonts: Learn about the preinstalled fonts that you can use for your externally facing reports.
• Barcode Fonts with Business Central Online: Describes the barcode fonts available with Business Central Online.
• Creating a Word layout report: Learn how to create a report that uses a Word layout.
• Creating an Excel layout report: Learn how to create an Excel layout report.
• Creating an RDL layout report: Describes the steps involved in creating a report that uses an RDL layout.
• Defining multiple report layouts: Learn how to define multiple layouts for one report in AL code.
• Design Word Layouts with the Business Central Add-in: Learn how to use the Business Central Word add-in to add report fields, create repeating tables, add layout comments, and hide empty content.
• Developing a Custom Report Render: Describe the custom report render logic and how to implement it in AL code.
• Get started creating report layouts: Learn how to create and customize report layouts in Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Map Data Fields in Word Layouts: Learn how to use the XML Mapping Pane in Word to manually map Business Central report data, labels, images, and repeating rows to content controls.
• Report and document layouts overview: Use report layouts to customize documents, for example, to personalize the font, logo, or page settings of PDF files you send to customers.
• Set the Layout Used by a Report in Business Central: Learn how to select the default report layout for each company, temporarily use another layout, and distinguish layout selection from reusable branding.
• Setting up Hyperlinks in Word Report Layouts: Learn how to create links from text and pictures fields in Word report layouts
• Tips for Using Word to Author Your Report Layout: Learn tips and techniques for authoring Word report layouts in Business Central, including sections, tables, conditional formatting, and more.
• Working with Excel layouts: Learn how to create and modify report layouts that are built using Excel.
• Working with RDLC Layouts: Get an introduction to RDLC report layouts.

Videos and posts

Linked by a Haiku matcher with a grounding quote from the item’s summary (link/topics.ts); machine-generated.

• Step-by-Step Guide to Excel Reporting in Business Central (community post): “Excel reporting in Business Central allows developers to create data-driven reports”
• Step-by-Step Guide to Word Reports in Business Central (community post): “Word reports in Business Central allow developers to create report objects”
• Easy Steps to Edit Word Reports in Business Central (community post): “Edit Word report layouts in Business Central by exporting an existing report”
• Understanding RDLC Reports in Business Central (community post): “new layouts are uploaded through Report Layouts with RDLC chosen as the format”
• New Features for Report Lifecycle Management in Business Central 28.1 (community post): “Report layouts now have status states: Draft, Pending Approval, Approved”
• Composite Layouts in Business Central 29.0: Brand One Report End to End (community post): “Composite layouts split a document into a Body layout plus a reusable header/footer”
• BC Friday Tips #67 Reset Page Number in RDLC (community post): “ResetPageNumber property in RDLC reports restarts page numbering”
• BC Friday Tips #76 Barcode Fonts in RDL Reports (community post): “Creating barcodes in Business Central SaaS reports requires setting the FontFamily property”
• Dynamics GP to Business Central – How to easily convert your GP word templates to BC word layouts (community post): “Edit in Word by replacing GP fields with BC fields from the XML data”
• Quick Tip: Deep Dive into Report Objects and Layouts @BC TechDays 2025 (community post): “Select layout types based on purpose: Word for documents and email, RDLC”
• How Do I Fix: The EnableHyperlinks property has not been set for this report. (community post): “RDLC report layouts contain hyperlinks, the EnableHyperlinks property must be set”
• How Do I: Use the Word Add-in for Business Central Report Layouts (community post): “The Dynamics 365 Business Central Word add-in is a free Microsoft Word extension that simplifies designing Word layouts”
• Quick Tip: BC28: What Is New in Document Reporting (community post): “Table Builder, still in preview, adds an Insert Table action that builds the header, repeater, mapped columns”
• Quick Tip: It’s Time to Move to the Word Add-in Data Picker (community post): “Word add-in data picker provides a cleaner alternative by inserting mapped fields directly”
• Let It Snow: How To Use Themable Layouts in Business Central (2024) (video): “Themeable layouts; Abts font in Office; Word layout watermark support”
• What’s New: Enhanced Document Reporting Features (For Developers) (2024 release wave 2) (video): “word layout engine; document reports; word add-in; layout controls”
• What’s New: Reporting (For Developers) (2025 release wave 1) (video): “Override Excel multiple data sheets property at layout level”

Business Central pages and reports

The pages, reports and queries this hub’s Learn pages name (ms.search.form, API reference), joined to the code by exact object id (data/index/docs-objects.json); a page shows the table it runs on.

• Page 21 “Customer Card” · on Table 18 “Customer”
• Page 9650 “Custom Report Layouts” · on Table 9650 “Custom Report Layout”
• Page 9652 “Report Layout Selection” · on Table 9651 “Report Layout Selection”
• Page 9660 “Report Layouts”
• Page 9666 “Report Theme and Header/Footer” · captioned “Manage themes and header-footer layouts”

Source: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0). Descriptions are Learn’s own.